BY DIEP TRAN
If “Saturday Night Live” can perform to a live audience, why can’t theaters? That’s one of the arguments in a lawsuit filed by a coalition of eight Off-Broadway theaters and comedy clubs against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The city’s live venues have been officially closed since March, and have not been allowed to reopen.
The lawsuit argues that small venues can open safely at limited capacity and demands that Cuomo’s executive order closing small venues be overturned. The lawsuit was filed by attorney James G. Mermigis, who wrote: “Casinos, malls, movie theaters, restaurants, gyms, catering halls for weddings, christenings and bar mitzvahs, bowling alleys, ‘Saturday Night Live,’ schools and colleges have been allowed to reopen but the small venue theater industry remains shuttered despite its median capacity of only 144 seats.”
According to the suit, the small venue theater industry generates $1.3 billion in total economic output, over 8,400 full-time equivalent jobs, and $512 million in wages. It said that if the venues aren’t allowed to open soon, they “may be forced to permanently shut their doors.”
In a statement to the New York Times, Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, said: “We get sued virtually every day for virtually every action taken during this pandemic, and frankly, I’ve lost track of all the frivolous suits filed against us.” He then added, “We are moving heaven and Earth to contain this virus and we know some people are unhappy, but New York continues to have one of the lowest infection rates in the nation, and better to be unhappy than sick or worse.”
Meanwhile, the Broadway League has announced that Broadway theaters, where the seating capacity is much larger (usually at least 500 seats), will remain closed at least until May 2021. Movie theaters in NYC also remain closed, though Cuomo has allowed cinemas outside of the city to reopen starting Oct. 23 at limited capacity. In addition, there have been a number of outdoor performances to small audiences throughout the city.
Mermigis’s law firm has filed similar lawsuits for New York gym owners and restaurants. Both entities have been allowed to reopen under limited capacity.
